Set Me Free

In walked Adonis himself, late, on his first day of school. Of course he could have just gotten lost since he's new, but I somehow seriously doubted that. He sauntered into the class as if he owned it and handed the teacher a note without sparing him even a passing glance.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Connelly! Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?" Mr. Sams asked...I think the teacher likes everyone but me.

Andrew just looked around the classroom once, a look of pure disdain on his face before turning back to Mr. Sams and answering with a flat and simple: "No."

Out of my peripheral vision I could just see Jenny straightening up and looking at him like a piece of fresh meat. When Jenny wanted someone, she knew just how to get them; I mean, I may hate her, but to every other guy in this school, she's the perfect package, STDs and all.

"Alright, well then, you can sit wherever since I don't really care..." Mr. Sams beamed; is he trying to act cool and...LIE! The first time we came here, he forced me to sit right in front of his desk so he could "keep a close eye on me" because I "look like trouble". How does someone like me look like trouble? I'm only about 5'7" and Andrew was a good 6'0" at least and he had a tattoo on his arm...not that I was complaining...ARGH! Shut up, brain!

I guess I was off in my own little day dreaming world because the next thing I knew was that the chair next to me was all of a sudden occupied. My breathing all of a sudden hitched and it hurt to swallow. This is going to be...a long class.

***

I was right, that was one of the longest social classes of my life. Usually I would just fall asleep and wait until it was over, but this time I was afraid of snoring or drooling or something else that would make me look like an idiot in front of Andrew.

By the end of that class though, I came to the conclusion that I have a slight crush on Andrew Connelly and that I may be just a little bi, if not just bi-curious. What could I do about it though? There was no way in hell I was planning on acting upon these...strange feelings, so the best thing to do was just...befriend him and hope they go away because this might just be another phase. People go through things like this all of the time, I'm no different. If I keep telling myself that, then maybe I might start to believe it.

When the bell rang, I was practically trying to fly out of there, but could I? Noooooo, because Jenny's a bitch and I hate her.
At soon as the bell rang; she clawed her way into my arms and started batting her fake eyelashes at Andrew. I hoped she knew that we had classes to attend.

"So...you're new here. I'm Jenny and this is Dane." She giggled, twirling a lock of her hair on her finger. Ugh, this is so disturbing.

Andrew barely looked at her and when he did, I could've sworn I saw him roll his eyes.
When Jenny realized that he wasn't going to say anything, she quickly tried filling up the silence with conversation; it was blatantly obvious that no guy had ever ignored her before; she had no idea was to say. I, on the other hand, had better things to do than watch her flirt, so I made my way out of the classroom to my next class, but stopped short at the door when I remembered something.

"Uh...Andrew, my parents invited your family over again...my dad told me to tell you that." 'While he was pinning me to the ground'. It took a whole hell of a lot of effort not to add on the last bit.

Jenny seemed shocked that I knew Andrew and that he actually paid me any attention, but it wasn't until I was already in my next class did I realize the stupid mistake I'd made. Now Jenny's going to squeeze herself into our dinner plans.
I was dreading going to this dinner since the moment dad told me to tell the Connellys. It was bound to be nothing but trouble and I knew it. Jenny practically super glued herself to my side the entire day, just so I wouldn’t leave without her knowing. She dragged me and her annoying friends to Andrew at lunch and forced him to sit with us; I think he’s slightly afraid of her now.

Andrew Connelly doesn’t talk much. All he did throughout lunch was pick at his food and pretend to be paying attention to all the girls who were shamelessly flirting with him. I have to admit, he looked more like their type than I did. Yes, he wore skinny jeans, but they weren’t nearly as tight of a fit on him as mine were on me. His shirt was simple, a polo even, that clung to his well defined chest...and I’m shaking away all the inappropriate thoughts that are running through my head at this very moment. He’s in three of my six classes, which I’m not proud to admit that I’m slightly happy about.
Thankfully for me, Jenny wasn’t in my last class, which was art; she was in cosmetology or fashion or some shit like that, so there was a slight chance that I’d be able to leave class early without the teacher noticing and not have to take her to my house. Of course she could just get her friend to drive her...I should think things out better. Anyway, I was currently staring at the back of Andrew’s head.

Art was one of the classes I had him in and lucky for me, he sat right in front of me. Can someone’s head be shaped so perfectly that you can’t think of anything better to do than to stare at it? I...am losing it.
I guess somewhere along the entire class, he felt someone staring at him, so he turned around and came face to face with me. He didn’t say anything, not that I would expect him to, but I didn’t expect him to glare at me either. If I didn’t like this boy already, I started then. Last night, I could’ve sworn his eyes were as black as night, but there were just this odd shade of dark blue that I have never seen before. They were perfect and I was practically drooling.

“Can I help you with something?” Oh my God, he’s British.

“Oh my God, you’re British.” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Everyone knows accents make everything better and this boy was gorgeous to begin with. Wait, how is he British? Both his parents and his sister are American, hell; his dad even has a slight southern accent. Maybe he’s adopted, but he kind of looks like his mom and his sister, with the nose and the small ears...maybe God just hates me and placed him here, completely perfect, to torture me; knowing that I can never have him. Yeah, that’s it, God just hates me.

I was thrust back into reality when an unfamiliar hand waved in front of my face, causing me to snap back and look into the oh-so gorgeous face of Andrew Connelly. Great, now all I'm missing is the gay lisp.

“Hello? Is anyone in there?”

My mind finally shut itself of my confusing thoughts and focused on what was coming out of Andrew’s perf-mouth.

“S-sorry.” I was surprised words were actually able to leave my mouth. I stuttered, but that was an accomplishment. I was half afraid I’d blurt out something like: ‘you’re gorgeous, let’s have sex and stay together forever'.

He didn’t say anything else, just turned around, slightly confused. I am officially an idiot. This guy is just a guy; he’s probably a stuck-up jackass for all I know. Okay, that wasn’t true, he didn’t act like he owned the school, but that could be just for today. Tomorrow he could walk in and start beating me up; I didn’t like being beaten up. I already get pummeled at home; I don’t need it at school too.

I tried getting up the courage to talk to him all through class, which resulted in me not getting any work done to hand in to the teacher, but by the time I was about to say hello, the bell rang and I swear I’ve never seen someone move from their seat to the door faster. Well, there go my chances and I doubt he’ll talk to me during dinner.

During my thinking, I completely forgot my plan to avoid Jenny and not have to take her to my house and by the time I actually remembered and tried running away, she was already glued to my arm. I felt like snarling.

“Must you stand so close to me?” I asked.

Now, don’t think badly of me. I’m usually a nice person; I don’t back talk, I don’t get into fights and it’s nearly impossible for me to say no to anyone, but Jenny is...she’s evil. She brought the mean side of me and I hated her for it. She was just such a...bad person.

She scowled at me, but loosened her grip on me, it still wasn’t enough. Why couldn’t she just let go of me and walk away? Everyone would be so much happier.

“Whatever, just don’t blow it for me with Andrew. That boy is so gorgeous and so much better for me than you are.” She sneered, fixing her makeup. What is with girls and makeup? Don’t they realize that as soon as they take it off, their faces just look worse. Idiots.

“You do realize that everyone is better for you than I am. Why don’t you just break up with me and spare us both the pain?” I tried shaking her arm off of me with she gave me the iciest glare she could manage. I hate this girl...so much.

We arrived at my car, the only good thing my father’s done for me. My blood red, 2011 Ferrari 599 GTO. Jenny hates it because it’s not pink. *cue the rolling of the eyes*

“Can you like, not bring this car anymore. It’s like...so ugly.” She popped her gum and did that weird snob thing with her hand on her hip.

I fought back the urge to reply with: ‘Like your face’ and opened her door for her; not to be polite, but to fight back the urge to run her over.
During the ten minute car ride to my house, Jenny sat there, whining about how her nails weren’t long enough and how her ‘daddy’ refused to buy her a house until she was eighteen. I wanted to shoot myself, but because the lack of a gun, I waited until we were at a stoplight before banging my head repeatedly on the steering wheel. Maybe losing a few brain cells will help make her voice less irritating.

Parking in the driveway, I didn’t waste any time running into the house and closing the door behind me; maybe she’ll just walk away...a guy can dream.

My mom was busy trying to make the house perfect so she could show off some more that we’re rich. Well no fucking duh, dad’s face is on like, every single business magazine you dumb skank, I think they know we’re rich.

I raced to my room before Jenny could come in and annoy me; Andrew’s blinds still weren’t drawn. Okay, now I feel like a stalker. Instead of Andrew being in his room, I saw Felicity, going though his things like they were her own. I stood there and watched as the door to Andrew’s bedroom opened and in walked the God himself, with his backpack slung over his shoulder. The window was closed, so I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but Andrew looked seriously pissed. He yelled something at her and she flung something back. They were just going at it until Felicity took a remote control and chucked it at his head; I could get along with this girl. She stormed out of the room and I took that as my cue to stop staring before Andrew turned around and saw me again. That would be the third time since he’s been here that he’d catch me staring at him.

“Baby, are you up here?” *shiver down my spine* EW, Jenny’s here.

I quickly ran over to the window and closed the blinds before she got to see that Andrew was right next door. She’s be coming here every single day if she got a glimpse of him. Don’t want any more torture.

Spending two and half hours in a room with Jenny, who suddenly decided that she wanted to be all over me, was pure agony. My father came into my room right after she did and told us to spend some ‘quality time’ together. Do you know how sick it is to have your father tell you that he wants to and your girlfriend to be having sex while he’s right next door?
Finally, one of the maids called us down to dinner; the guests had arrived. Jenny was frantically checking her makeup and hair on the way down the stairs. A part of me just wanted her to trip and fall flat on her face; another, the nicer, more sensible part, told me that I really should stop imagining her dead in some unimaginable way.

Mrs. Connelly was all smiles, Mr. Connelly was just trying to get his wife to calm down, Felicity was still shy and wouldn’t look anyone in the eye; different from when I saw her fighting with her brother. Andrew was...Andrew. Casual, black skinnies and a blue button up shirt that brought out his eyes. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets while he glared at everything from under his fringe; in short, he was the most attractive thing anyone could imagine. I felt like a thirteen year old girl with a crush.

Mother had her chef make the most delicious meal he ever could because she wanted the Connelly’s to ‘know who was better’. Bitch.
To me, the dinner sucked. Mother wouldn’t stop bragging about everything, dad took that opportunity to show off to Mr. Connelly how much he had, Jenny wouldn’t stop eye-raping Andrew and Felicity wouldn’t stop eye-raping me (though I don’t think she knew I noticed).

When everyone finished, dad thought it’d be great if he showed the Connelly’s a tour of the house. The best part...he told me to show Andrew around since we’re the same age. I wanted to shoot that man in the face, but I kept quiet and just nodded. Jenny was still hanging off my arm.

“This is the living room, this is the dining room, this is the kitchen, this is the bathroom...” There was no enthusiasm in my voice whatsoever.

Once we reached upstairs, Jenny finally lost it and jumped the poor guy. She screeched while jumping on his back and entering some random room. I was just going to turn my back and go spend the rest of the night in my room when I realized...they were in my room. Ugh, now I have to interfere. Does it make me a bad person because I was considering just staying in the guest room for the night?

Opening my door, I saw Jenny on one side of the bed, a devilish smirk on her face while Andrew was cowering on the other side. Poor guy, he was most likely scared shitless.

“Jenny, leave the poor guy alone. If this is your plot to get him into bed, I think you failed...miserably.”

She didn’t even turn her head to me; she was still staring at Andrew with a look of pure insanity on her face.

Multiple things happened at once a mere second later. Andrew, summoning up some courage, tried to make a break for it, but Jenny, being the beast she is, managed to tackle him to the ground and tried dry-humping him. It was sad watching Andrew try to crawl away from her, but Jenny had him in a lock on the ground. If Andrew wasn’t so damn hot I wouldn’t have done anything, but he is, so I tried prying Jenny off the poor guy. She was kicking and thrusting so much in my arms once I’d gotten her off of Andrew that I could barely hold on. I finally (after about ten minutes of futile attempts) managed to literally throw Jenny out of my room and lock the door.

Andrew was laying face down on the ground, trying to catch his breath. I plopped down on my bed, waiting for when my father barged in, yelling at me that I drove Jenny out.

“Thanks man.”

I didn’t notice Andrew sitting on the bed beside me until he started talking; I was too wrapped up in my thoughts. What were they about? I don’t know.

“Oh, no problem.” I went back to trying to figure out what the hell I was just thinking about, but he spoke again.

“Don’t you care? I mean, she is your girlfriend, isn’t she?”

“Yep and I frankly wish that she’d get hit by a bus, but not all our dreams come true.”
Andrew chuckled at this, it was a deep, throaty, amazing sound.

“Then why the hell are you still with her? No offense, but she’s a bit frightening, I thought I was about to get raped.”

I chuckled along with him, trying not to jump him too; Jenny taught me not to do that.

We stayed in silence for a while and it most definitely was not comfortable. I felt like I should say something, but I just didn’t know what. From the corner of my eye, I saw his mouth open and close as if he wanted to say something too...so I wasn’t the only one who found this uncomfortable.

“So...” I tried. “Your parents seem like pretty nice people.”

He snorted. “Yeah, sure. Your parents are...something.”

“I wish I was adopted.” My eyes were set straight forward with no expression on my face; it hurt how true my words were.

“No you don’t.” was his simple answer.

His voice sounded cracked and hurt, but when I looked to make sure, he was already off my bed and headed towards the door. I didn’t have time to say anything before he disappeared from sight and right out of the house.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I waited that night to see if he would come into his room, but I must’ve fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, my alarm was blasting in my ears and my mother was pounding on the door, telling me to wake up. So they choose today to wake me up but not yesterday? Running my fingers through the disheveled mess I’m forced to call hair, I looked over, out of my window, to see Andrew’s blinds drawn...damn it. What the hell was his problem anyway? One second he’s nice and the next he turns into a brick wall, not letting anyone through. I didn’t have time to think about it before my father came down to the kitchen and decided that it’d be fun to punch me in the face and cause my nose to bleed. Good ol’ father-son bonding.

I went to school with a bloody rag on my nose. If there was one person in our group that was cool, it was a girl named Echo. Yes, her real name is Echo, which in itself makes her pretty damn cool. She was the only one who seemed to care that I was bleeding half to death. How long should it take for someone's nose to stop bleeding?

“Dude, what the hell happened to your face?” And she’s blunt.

“Nothing, I fell and hit my head on the counter.” Even though I don’t want to live with my parents, I don’t want to get shipped off to some foster home either. I’m just waiting until I finish high school before I move out and never visit.

I didn’t understand why Echo was even accepted in our group. She was just like me and I’m only in there because of Jenny. Her hair was dyed bright red with strands of orange; she owned nothing but skinny jeans, band tees and Chuck Taylors. She only stayed with us because a girl named Sarah (who has been her friend since the second grade) was part of the group. Sarah was not a reason to stay with this group, everyone was too shallow to be considered real of any kind, especially her and Jenny.

Jenny avoided me and gave me all the icy glares she could possibly muster. I didn’t care; it was peace and quiet for me. Andrew was late to class again and the teacher just let him off again. His face was back to the cold, unreadable expression that one just has to get used to.
He was nowhere in sight for lunch that day, nor was he there for English, my fourth period with him, right after lunch. There was no other explanation other than the fact that he skipped...lucky. He’s able to skip without his parents caring. If my father ever got a call from the school that said that I’d skipped, he’d rip out my small intestine and strangle me with it.

While driving home with Jenny after school (she'd decided that she'd wanted to talk to me again...kill me), I subconsciously looked over to the neighbors’ house and saw something I’d never expect to see...

Someone was getting taken away in an ambulance.